Creating an Historic Crown Jewel and Economic Titan
The location of the U.S.S. Iowa at the
former Mare
Island Naval Shipyard in Vallejo, is highly desirable and an incredibly dynamic location.
With multiple roads accessing the island, the ship will be
minutes away from world famous Napa Valley frequented by nearly 5 million
visitors annually, Marine World Africa USA frequented by nearly 2 million
visitors a year and Infineon Raceway
that plays host to 700,000 screaming
NASCAR enthusiasts a year. Finally, the battleship will be only a 25-minute
drive from downtown San Francisco with its over 14-million visitors
each year.
In fact, one in four tourists to San Francisco visits
the wineries in nearby Napa County. Further, there are hourly, 300-person capacity ferries from San
Francisco (Ferry Building and Fisherman’s Wharf) docking in
Vallejo, within several several hundred feet of the battleship. The
battleship will be seen by many hundreds of thousands of visitors
annually.
Two separate feasibility studies agree that the battleship's
decks will see approximately 400,000 visitors annually. That
visitor range can
be expected to expand significantly
(see below)
with the future and planned establishment of retail businesses
at the shipyard adjacent to U.S.S.
Iowa's berth and
from veterans reunions that are anticipated to meet aboard the battleship at
this historic location.
Directly across from the Vallejo ferry terminal, the battleship will present an awe-inspiring profile when viewed from the City of Vallejo’s popular and well designed waterfront. The battleship’s bow will be pointed south or down the channel toward the Carquinez Straits. Tens of thousands of ferry riders arriving in Vallejo will have a stunning bow view of the U.S.S. Iowa. Additionally, the battleship’s profile will be seen from two major roadways in the Bay Area, highways 37 and 80. At night, with her bright chain of lights strung from her tallest mast to her bow and stern, U.S.S. Iowa will portray a striking image to tens of thousands of commuters.
Naval Shipyard Mare Island is the West Coast’s oldest naval facility. It is a time capsule for almost 150 years of American naval history. The shipyard is one of the largest and most important as well as best preserved naval locations in the nation. The shipyard is on the national register for historic preservation. Its four enormous graving yards, beautiful mansions, giant cranes and lovely chapel are unrivalled and in pristine condition. Now, Americans will have an opportunity to see first hand how this nation built and maintained our Navy. Few Americans have ever seen a graving-yard or dry-dock large enough to hold ships weighing many tens of thousands of tons and over 500 feet long. In this regard, U.S.S. Iowa's berth will be nationally unique. The shipyard offers an unforgettable experience and historic backdrop only rivaled by the U.S.S. Missouri's berth in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
U.S.S. Iowa’s berth, its approaches and mooring plans, have
been carefully designed at one of the most historic locations at Mare Island
Naval Shipyard.
This location is at the center of the historic core, where some of the most
significant moments in Mare Island’s history occurred. Recall that the shipyard
has been preserved in a most complementary manner by the City of Vallejo
and the Lennar Corporation after
its closure in 1996. IOWA’s berth is at the building ways, where Mare Island
Naval Shipyard launched some of the most famous ships in the United States
Navy’s history, including the battleship U.S.S. California, the heavy cruiser
U.S.S. San Francisco, the submarine U.S.S. Wahoo and later, many nuclear
submarines. The pier-side approach
to the battleship will be breathtaking. Visitors will walk
to the brow under gigantic cranes
draped with American flags, flanked by an
enormous graving-yard (dry-dock) on one side and huge
building ways with massive steel scaffolding on the left,
all this amid well preserved historic
buildings. (See the berth's photo to the left.)
Further, within a block are the stately historic
mansions of shipyard
commanders along beautiful tree lined streets. A scant
two blocks away is
one of the oldest and best preserved chapels in the nation, beautiful St.
Peter’s chapel with some of the most striking tiffany stained glass in the
country. So striking is the chapel's Tiffany glass that museums from
around the region occasionally sponsor tours of the chapel. This chapel, like the
nearby mansions, remains open to the public. As if
this is not enough, the Mare Island Historic Park Foundation museum is directly
across from the battleship’s berth at the historic core (seen
above).
The historic core is easily accessible and houses some of the shipyard's best preserved buildings. The
historic core has been designated a commercial area, to be populated
with cafes, restaurants and shops. Projected to be a lively center for retail shopping and tourism, Mare Island's historic core
will afford the U.S.S. Iowa an economically vibrant berthing site with the
attractiveness of Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco and Navy Pier in Chicago.
The combination of the legendary U.S.S. Iowa and historic Mare Island Naval Shipyard, minutes drive from the world famous wine country of Napa Valley and the attractions of the San Francisco Bay Area, will attract veterans reunion groups from around the country. The U.S.S. Iowa at Mare Island will become a national beacon for proud patriotic feelings and center stage for hosting on an unparallel scale tens of thousands of American's veterans at meetings and functions.
Few locations offer a more supportable, realizable venue for telling the story of the United States Navy. The combined synergy of a dramatic historic setting, confluence of powerful and long-term economic advantages and incentives, stand to make the U.S.S. Iowa at Mare Island a national attraction of almost unparalleled value and sustainability. The U.S.S. Iowa and our nation's naval legacy will thrive at Mare Island.